Innehållsförteckning för February 2019 från Total Guitar

Okay, let’s be honest with each other now – who has given up making New Year’s resolutions? I’ll admit it, I’ve been burned by my own lack of commitment many a time as my January promises break like an E string in an encore. But the desire to start every year strong is still there when it comes to my relationship with the guitar. I’m not alone; we all want to get better at this instrument. Being realistic and clear in your mind is a pretty good place to start when it comes to a best-foot-forward approach as this year kicks off: what areas do you want to improve in and how will you begin? Our workout (on p48) hones in on that kind of thinking – from picking techniques…

1 “I played an Ibanez for nine or 10 years and eventually I decided I would like a new guitar. At the time I saw Chris Letchford [Scale The Summit] was playing a Strandberg, Tosin Abasi from Animals As Leaders was playing one for a bit and Misha from Periphery was playing one. They looked fucking amazing so I thought, ‘That’s the guitar I need.’ Eventually, I was on holiday going to watch a band in Berlin called Intervals and Aaron [Marshall] from that band was playing a Strandberg and I’d talked to him a bit online but I missed his set because I was late to the show, which is in character for me, but we met up afterwards and I got to play his guitar. And after holding…

1. CHUCK BERRY – JOHNNY B GOODE APPEARS AT: 0:18 Wait till the verse kicks in and you’ll hear Chuck’s trademark boogie riffing – all down-picked, of course! 2. FOO FIGHTERS – ALL MY LIFE APPEARS AT: 0:00 Dave Grohl’s syncopated powerchord intro is all down-picked. The other guitars kick in at 0:35 using a down-up approach. 3. TOM PETTY – I WON’T BACK DOWN APPEARS AT: 0:00 Light palm-muted powerchords kick off proceedings here courtesy of Petty and ex-Beatle George Harrison. 4. METALLICA – ENTER SANDMAN APPEARS AT: 0:24 Hetfield is widely considered a god of down-picking. Honestly, there are few Metallica songs that don’t feature the technique. 5. RAMONES – BLITZKRIEG BOP APPEARS AT: 0:00 The intro on this classic US punk tune is all down-picked. Live versions…

STRYMON LEX £299 The Strymon Lex is a rotating speaker simulator with additional non-Uni-Vibe controls for horn and mic distance. That aside, it’s possible to get fantastic Uni-Vibe sounds out of the unit. One of the main things that the Lex has over the original Uni-Vibe and most of its successors is stereo output. It also boasts an expression pedal input and dedicated preamp gain control. MXR UNI-VIBE £139 Dunlop bought the rights to the Uni-Vibe name, and the MXR M68 claims to be a faithful reproduction of the original. In its favour are a compact form-factor and intuitive controls, as well as an obligatory expression input, but purists grumble that it suffers from some of the weaknesses of the original, like a tendency toward ‘thinner’ sounds with certain settings.…

Throughout her storied career – which has included stints with post-rock supergroup Red Sparowes, alt-rockers Marriages and drone-metal man Dylan Carlson – American singer-songwriter and guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle has proven herself to be a dreamweaver of expansive guitar textures. Her third solo album, On Dark Horses , however, finds her waves of celestial sound lapping against altogether heavier, darker shores. Yet although Emma writes on an acoustic, her rig always informs the direction the material takes. “It’s like relying on reverb if you’re a singer, and you know there’s going to be that extra dimension to it,” she explains. “I don’t like dry guitar sounds; I have lots of reverb and delay.” As you’ll see from the unorthodox tunings and expansive pedalboard on display here, she…

A MIX IT UP Not into scales or sight reading? Then mix things up. Start by mixing two minutes of scales, chords or theory in between 10-minute bursts of playingwhatyou dolike. It’s an easy way to learn the tough stuff! B VISUALISE SCALES AND CHORDS Just learned a new chord? Or a scale? Look at your fingers as you play it. It might sound obvious, but visual cues are as important as getting the ‘feel’ down. C LEARN SONGS ON THE MOVE Listen to a song you’re learning and say the chord names as they change in the song or visualise the fretboard and imagine yourself playing the parts. You’re effectively ‘revising’ the songs so when you’re next on your guitar you won’t have to remind yourself how it goes.…

While the 1970s had Stairway To Heaven and the 90s had Smells Like Teen Spirit, the most memorable riffathon of the 80s has to be the mighty Sweet Child O’ Mine. Released in August 1988, the song went on to sell a number of records not that far removed from several hundred gazillion and continues to evoke bittersweet nostalgia for music lovers to this day. At the core of the song is Slash’s finger-twisting riff – a line originally played by Slash as a warm-up exercise. It’s a long run of constant eighth notes, and, though other picking patterns are available, using alternate down and upstrokes will help you stay in time. Solo-wise there’s a lot to digest with a bunch of different shapes to learn on the fretboard. As…

Rockschool Classics feature a collection of iconic rock tracks and can be used as free choice pieces in Guitar Grade exams. For more info visit: rslawards.com RUN TO YOU Words & Music by Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance © Copyright 1984 Testatyme Music/Almo Music Corporation/Irving Music, USA/Adams Communications Incorporated Rondor Music International All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured One of Bryan Adams’ greatest hits, Run To You was released in 1984 from his fourth album, Reckless. It was originally recorded with a capo on the guitar’s 2nd fret raising the pitch from E to F# minor. Rockschool’s arrangement is an easy Grade 1 version, however, and is played in the open position, capo-free, so that anyone can jam along. A key feature of the main riff in Run…

1 ROCKBOARD LED DAMPER LED so bright it can be seen by passing aircraft, and if you’re sick of averting your eyes every time you stomp on the offending pedal, RockBoard has the solution for you. LED Dampers are domes that stick on your pedal, but their diffractive structure means the stompbox’s status is still visible in daylight as well as in the dark. Two sizes of damper are available, all of which use a high-quality self-adhesive that won’t leave residue when removed. (From €6.50, rockboard.de)– 2 KINSMAN WALL HANGERS Do you need to free up space on your floor? Want to save money on expensive wall art? Why, we reckon you may well be in need of a guitar hanger, and Kinsman has just launched a fine new selection,…

“A PEAVEY AMP THAT COULD TAKE OVER THE 6505 CROWN” Peavey found a whole new market in 1992 thanks to a collaboration with Eddie Van Halen, resulting in the iconic 5150 head and a massive boost for the company’s rock/metal credentials. After the EVH association ended in 2004, Peavey renamed the 5150 as the 6505, which to this day remains the industry standard for metal guitarists the world over. Now, there’s a new Peavey amp that could well take over that crown – at a price. Designed in collaboration with Periphery’s Misha Mansoor, let’s welcome the Invective 120. This amp features heavily-populated front and rear control panels that remain clear and easy to follow, thanks to minimalist styling with white knobs on a white background. There are three channels for…

BODY: Basswood NECK: Maple SCALE: 628mm (24.75") FINGERBOARD: Ovangkol FRETS: 22, medium PICKUPS: 1 x Seymour Duncan Designed HB-101 humbucker, 1 x Seymour Duncan Designed HB-102 single coil STK (neck) CONTROLS: 2 x volume, 2 x tone (push/pull), 3-way toggle switch HARDWARE: Chrome tune-o-matic bridge, Rotomatic Stairstep machineheads LEFT-HANDED: No FINISH: Antique White (as reviewed), Army Green, Black (also available with maple fingerboard and tremolo), Black w/ Pearl Blue pickguard CASE: Gigbag included CONTACT: info@dangelicoguitars.com…

CHRIS BIRD After many hours spent designing this month’s huge 2019 Workout, TG’s tuition editor noted the fitting coincidence that Gn’R’s Sweet Child O’ Mine should be tabbed in the same issue. Slash’s timeless intro began life as a pre-gig warm-up. Proof indeed that a little time spent honing your technique may be all the riff-spiration you need. MIKE ASTLEY-BROWN He’s played more than his fair share of Strats, but MAB has been tickled pink by Fender’s new American Performer incarnation. “Give me neck single coils in every position, all the time,” he raved. His newfound love of baritones shows no sign of abating following an intense gear chat with low-tuning mage Emma Ruth Rundle. JONATHAN HORSLEY It’s not that TG’s writer is nursing a turn-of-the-year existential crisis where his…

Dime played Washburns at the time of Reinventing The Steel though he’s perhaps best known for his love of Dean guitars. Use a guitar with a bridge position humbucker, preferably with lots of treble bite and high output. Dimebag used Randall amps with some serious drive levels. If your amp is too weedy in the gain stakes use a distortion pedal with plenty of dirt (MXR’s Dime Distortion pedal is available if you’re dead set on an authentic tone) and scoop out most of the midrange on either your amp or pedal.…

GET THE TONE #1 MACHINE GUN Be like the master of the Uni-Vibe and pair these settings with a fuzz pedal for full Band Of Gypsys level madness... Jimi Hendrix style! Make sure that you use the speed control in an expressive way to accentuate lead passages, and match the lead riff’s tempo as closely as you can for rhythm playing. GET THE TONE VOLUME Max CHORUS/VIBRATO Chorus INTENSITY 4 o’clock - max GET THE TONE #2 STEVEN WILSON CLEAN Wilson’s solo and Porcupine Tree work is covered in one of his trademark clean tones; a vibrato pedal emulating a Uni-Vibe or rotating speaker. He has used several different units, including the excellent Diamond Vibrato with the speed turned down to give movement to arpeggiated chords in clean sections. GET…

In our view, the most important lead guitar techniques are legato (hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and so on) and down-up style ‘alternate’ picking. And if you can get both hands coordinated together you’ll be ready to tackle even the most challenging solos. Follow these exercises and hone your technique. 1 LEGATO TRACK 23 It’s easy to rush notes that are hammered, pulled or slid, so your focus should be on making each note the same length and volume to create an even stream of notes. 2 ALTERNATE PICKING TRACK 24 This exercise is the next step up from playing straight scales, and challenges you to play less familiar patterns. Use down-up-down-up style picking.…

Guitarists could talk forever about the best way to create solos; there are countless ways to go about it after all. We’ve created a simple plan that will get you started and an example to show you what we mean. Play our solo, then follow the tips to try writing your own. A) CREATE A HOOK Play a simple phrase that sticks in your mind. Use what you learned in our improv lessons to help with this. B) CREATE A VARIATION If your first phrase finishes on a low note, play the same thing again but end on a higher note. Simple! C) BUILD UP You need to start getting ready for a big finish so play a line that takes you to the guitar’s higher notes. D) THE CLIMAX…

Having played with a few local acts in Southend-On-Sea, Essex, Robin Trower came to prominence as guitarist for Procul Harum (of A Whiter Shade Of Pale fame) in 1967, with whom he recorded no less than five albums. After switching from a Gibson Les Paul to his classic Fender Strat/ Marshall setup Trower would set out on a successful solo career in 1973 – a career that continues to this day. Robin’s style of funk-tinged blues-rock has attracted many comparisons with Jimi Hendrix, who Robin acknowledges as a major influence. And Robin himself has had a huge impact on guitarists such as prog legend Robert Fripp, who enjoyed his playing so much, he took lessons from him! This month’s lesson is based around Robin’s Bridge Of Sighs period from 1974…

After its successful debut last year, Kent’s Black Deer Festival will return this summer with a strong line-up of acoustic and electric players already confirmed for the bill. Although the weekender at Eridge Park on 21 - 23 June is billed as an Americana and country fest, the three-day event spreads its wings wider. Joining Band Of Horses will be John Butler Trio, Larkin Poe, John Smith, Martin Harley, Ryan Bingham and fast-rising British singer/songwriter Jade Bird (pictured) to make it a strong start for the Black Deer’s second year. For more info on the festival and updates visit blackdeerfestival.com…

Former Beatle George Harrison’s debut solo single marked an early point in his use of slide guitar – a technique that would become his calling card. Although many slide specialists prefer to play in open tunings, My Sweet Lord is played in standard tuning, and although the acoustic guitar is capo’d at the 2nd fret, the electric slide intro is played in a closed position – and that means you can play it without a capo. The intro slide solo is tabbed out for you below. Far from being a simple three-chord strummer, there are plenty of shapes to play in My Sweet Lord. And the key change at 1:45 shifts the progression up by a tone, introducing a handful of extra chords too. This is where the capo comes…

Back when we reviewed Fender’s mid-priced Player Series, we charted the aspirational line of Fender progression: you start on a Squier, gig with a Mexican-made model and go pro with an American-built guitar. The newly-launched American Performer Series represents the most affordable entry point to bona fide USA Fenders, and marks the Big F’s first refresh at this price point in over 10 years. “SOME OF THE BEST STRAT PICKUPS WE’VE EVER HEARD” On first glance, there’s not much new, but then Fender has never been one to gamble with the aesthetics it got right in the first place. You will, however, notice that the Stratocaster we’re looking at here comes in the all-new Penny finish – it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but paired with the black scratchplate, we…

TYPE: Valve preamp, valve power amp OUTPUT: 120W SPEAKER: Matching 2x12 and 4x12 cabinets, UK availability TBA VALVES: 6 x 12AX7, 4 x 6L6 CONTROLS: Clean channel: boost drive, tone, pre, post, low, mid, high. crunch/lead channels: pre, post x 2, low, mid, high, gate threshold, boost level, tone. Master: volume, presence, resonance, boost level. MSDI level, tone, ground lift. Half power switch, impedance switch SOCKETS: Guitar in, FX loop send/return x 2, Foot controller/MIDI in, MIDI out/Thru, 9VDC out x 2, MSDI XLR, Speaker jack x 2 WEIGHT: 22kg DIMENSIONS: 254x678x300mm [HxWxD] CONTACT: Barnes & Mullins 01691 652449 peavey.com…

Those of you that didn’t nod off in history class might recall the old Harold MacMillan quote, “you’ve never had it so good...” Our old Prime Minister uttered those words back in 1957, and he certainly wasn’t referring to guitar players. In those days, if you wanted to play electric guitar your options for a great playing and sounding affordable six-string amounted to the square root of bugger all. Sixty odd years on, you can’t move for great affordable electric guitars. Just look at the Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet BT. The build quality would be considered excellent on a guitar at twice the price. We also like the tonal variety offered by the Epiphone, and the addictive playability of the PRS SE and the Hamer Monaco. No other sector of…

The song that made me want to play… Day Tripper– The Beatles “There was something about the main guitar hook that pulled me in, and I loved the rest of it as well. It was the total package. A cool song, good lyrics, great vocal hooks, and of course, an amazing guitar hook that was so much fun to play. Basically any Beatles song...” The first tune I learned to play… Having An Average Weekend– Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet “Again, it was probably Day Tripper. The other earliest memory of songs that I learnt on guitar was the theme song of a Canadian sketch comedy TV show called The Kings In The Hall. Again, something drew me to it, or maybe it was just what my teacher felt…

Folk blues, or country blues – whatever you want to call it – is best known as the disreputable grandfather of modern rock’n’roll, and the schoolhouse where guitar royalty like Muddy Waters and BB King learned their chops. Often acoustic, typically rural, this rustic style of blues flourished in the years shortly before and after WWII, though let’s not be purists about it: this is messy, lightning-in-a-bottle stuff. Forget all the myth-making (sorry, Robert Johnson) and window dressing; who else is still worth hearing today?…

AT HEART, IT’S A FOUR-STAGE PHASER, WITH CONTROLS FOR INTENSITY AND OUTPUT VOLUME The Uni-Vibe was conceived as a pedal alternative to a Leslie speaker. It should come as no surprise, then, that one of its first proponents was Jimi Hendrix, who prolifically used a Leslie rotating speaker. Unlike most commercially-produced phase-shifters, the Uni-Vibe doesn’t employ op-amps in its circuit, instead using discrete components in its design. At heart, it’s a four-stage phaser, with controls for intensity and output volume, as well as a mode switch for the colour of the pedal. Crucially, the speed control is tied to a foot pedal, and freed from the mechanical limitations of a motor altering its speed, the Uni-Vibe can change speed much more dramatically. This meant that instead of the ‘fast’ and…

Odd time signatures can sound a bit, er, odd – actually a pretty useful effect if you want an unusual or left field vibe in your music. 5/4 is a fairly simple example. Unlike 4/4 time, where you count to four to get the feel of the music, you’ll be counting to five. Confused? Listen toSeven Days by Sting, 15 Step by Radiohead or Jethro Tull’sLiving In The Past and count ‘1 2 3 4 5’ to stay in time. You may prefer a ‘1 2 3 1 2’ count though – this way the rhythmic emphasis is always on the ‘1’s, which tends to feel more natural. Read on and we’ll explain all... 1 5/4 TIME EXPLAINED TRACK 11 Generally, music in 5/4 time has two emphasised pulses in…

“ALL OF THE PARTS EXCEPT THE ACOUSTICS WERE RECORDED ON THE JIVA AND I REALLY DID IT LIKE THAT TO TEST IT” 1 “I’ve been an Ibanez artist for 10 years, since 2008 and this year in 2018 I became the first female Ibanez signature artist. I could say that a 1,000 times and still not get tired of saying it. This is a guitar that came out at the NAMM show in January 2018.” 2 “The JIVA is an S Series body; it’s got that beautiful thinness. A mahogany body, quilted maple top and ebony [fingerboard]. I love the balance of the S Series – if you put your palm at the neck joint and hold it, you can see it’s got this amazing balance.” 3 “It has the…

It’s not all wacka wacka with a wah pedal! Or at least it doesn’t have to be. That said, perhaps the most important wah-wah technique of all is just rocking the pedal in time with the music you’re playing. This simple technique will take you a long way and it’s easy to progress to a looser, more fluid approach – a great way to enhance your solos. Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is a great listen for inspiration, as is Steve Vai’s Bad Horsie. 1 RHYTHMIC WAH RIFF TRACK 18 Rock the pedal so that your toes are on the ground in time with the musical pulse. Play eighth-note downstrokes in time with your foot movement and the groove will flow. 2 RHYTHMIC WAH LEAD TRACK 19 Rock the…

Here we’re looking at a few ways to give your playing a lift. A handful of blues shapes provide an authentic bed for some slick solos. Two- and three-note shapes sound great in soul music. Finally, we’re looking at a prog style riff in 7/8 time. 1 BLUES RHYTHM TRACK 35 This slow blues uses 9ths and 13ths to add colour to the more common 7ths found in blues. Keep pressure on the neck as you slide to keep the notes ringing. 2 BLUES LEAD TRACK 36 For an authentic blues vibe we’re making sure to target notes from the backing chords here. Bar 1 finishes on a long A note over the A13 chord; bar 2 targets the 14th fret – the major 3rd F# note in the D13…

SWEET CHILD O’ MINE Words and Music by W Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler Copyright © 1987 Guns N’ Roses Music/Black Frog Music Universal SRG Music Publishing Limited/Warner/ Chappell Artemis Music Limited Reproduced by kind permission of Hal Leonard Europe and Faber Music All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured GUNS N’ ROSES SWEET CHILD O’ MINE Intro This iconic riff is notoriously tricky, so start slowly and use alternate picking throughout. You may have to adapt the fingering to suit your playing style, especially on the fourth string. You may prefer to use your first finger for both the 12th and 14th frets or you might like to change fingers. GUNS N’ ROSES SWEET CHILD O’ MINE Verse 1 In bars 1 to 8, you’re…

Over the years many great guitarists have put their stamp on blues. Whilst many players take a roots-inspired approach, guitarists such as Larry Carlton, Robben Ford and Scott Henderson would create a more sophisticated sound, adding jazzy chords, advanced scales and adapting the standard 12-bar forms. Sort of like the blues then, but with A levels! With these players in mind, this month’s jam track is in the key of E minor and includes some jazz style chords. We’ve written out the chords used in the track so you can play along. Don’t be intimidated by the names – they’re all relatively easy to play. For lead and soloing take your inspiration from the jazz-blues greats. The minor pentatonic and blues scale are a really good starting point when improvising…

Nashville native William Tyler unveiled “his eulogy for a dying rural America” Modern Country in 2016. A record of instrumental, electric guitar-led pieces, it documented a blend of rusting rural scenes and peaceful nowheres without uttering a word. Which is ironic, given that Tyler’s roots lie in the innovative acoustic work of American primitive players like John Fahey and Leo Kottke. “To me every album is a way of changing the conversation about instrumental music,” says Tyler. “A lot of the songs I had for Modern Country were more like themes. I thought there were some things we could pull from that that weren’t just solo acoustic guitar reference points… Bill Frisell and Ry Cooder and 70s soundtracks, stuff like that.” Regardless of the motivations, it connected in a big…

Welcome to the GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome*) Station! Every issue, TG scours the market for the hottest new gear and brings you transparent reviews that you can trust. From the smallest of accessories that make your life easier, to big investments such as brand new guitars, amps and effects pedals – if it’s worth your attention, you’ll find it here! HOW WE TEST CURATION Our product selection is driven by our love of gear. We select the most exciting products on the market every month to bring you opinions you can trust. FACE-VALUE REVIEWS We’re not gear snobs here at Total Guitar. We judge it on whether it looks good, sounds good and plays well – not by the name on the headstock. NO SNAKE OIL You won’t find us…

While we’d argue the traditional Strat’s extra switching options secure that model a position at the top of the American Performer pile, we’d be remiss if we failed to mention the DoubleTap humbucker that appears on its HSS sibling. This is an all-new, patent-pending design for this range, which provides a coil-split but without the volume loss that you’d typically find from split humbuckers. From our time spent with the DoubleTap-equipped Stratocaster HSS and Tele Hum, we can certainly confirm Fender’s claims: the DoubleTap not only split the coils without any volume drop, but it also produced some of the most convincing split-coil tones we’ve ever heard from humbuckers.…

Classic is good. We like classic, don’t we? The Tele, Strat, SG, Les Paul… those familiar curves that keep pulling us in like poor saps with their timeless appeal. But different can be good too, and if a company can take a new approach and combine it with a sense of class on an instrument that feels like it might be a lost gem… well, then they’re on to something. So D’Angelico’s three new models win our admiration in that regard. The company has entered the solidbody market for the first time with three new bold shapes – the Ludlow, Atlantic and Bedford – available in two series: Deluxe and the more affordable “THE SPLIT OPTION ADDS RAUCOUS PERSONALITY” Premier. We’ve chosen this 7lb Premier Bedford as the model to…

Need some new ideas? Got some Christmas cash to burn? Whatever the reason, we’ve got just the thing. This rogue’s gallery of modulation pedals will do it all, from boutique modulation to analogue synthesis. With the Dimension C, we’re seeing the return of perhaps the best stompbox chorus ever. Not only that, but in this Waza reissue, a switch to change it over to a SDD-320 mode, emulating the rack effect the original was based on. The SDD-320 fetches astronomical prices on the used market, so its inclusion is a win-win. Meanwhile, with the Coral, we’ve got a wallet-friendly, pocket-sized do-it-all box to spark new song ideas while you’re noodling. So whether you’re curious about phaser, flanger or ring modulator, step on up! Keeley Bubble Tron £199 LOVELY BUBBLY This…